1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to communication networks, and more specifically, to an apparatus and a method for communicating in a wireless network in a manner that conserves battery power.
2. Description of Related Art
Wireless networks having a number of battery-operated nodes distributed over a wide area are well known. In such networks, a receiver circuit in each node is either on at all times or is on at predefined time periods. When on, the receiver circuit may check for incoming messages. For example, in a Time Division Multiple Access (TDMA) network a receiver in a node may be on only during those time slots assigned to the node. In a second example, in Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) Systems a receiver in a node is typically on all the time. In a third example, in Frequency Division Multiple Access Systems (FDMA), a receiver is typically kept on all the time or at least during the duration of a call. Having components of a receiver circuit powered on constantly or at predefined periods, whether or not incoming messages are arriving at the respective nodes can cause the batteries in the nodes to run down at a faster rate than batteries in nodes that use power in a more efficient manner.
Accordingly, power conserving nodes that increase an amount of time that a node may be able to operate without either replacing or recharging the node's battery are desirable. Further, rechargeable batteries are generally able to be recharged a finite number of times before the battery will no longer accept a charge. Power conserving nodes would therefore make it possible to recharge node batteries less often, thus increasing the longevity of the rechargeable batteries.